


three strikes and you're out

by footprintsonthemoon



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27035443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/footprintsonthemoon/pseuds/footprintsonthemoon
Summary: Alex Claremont-Diaz was happier than he had ever been in his life. He was living in the brownstone in New York City with the love of his life, Prince Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. He was finally getting into the groove of law school and his mother was into the start of her final term of her presidency. But one fateful night at a fundraiser for Henry's new shelter has Alex narrowly surviving an assassination attempt. And, as they'll soon find out, it won't be the last one.Alex, love, Henry thought. Please do not go where I cannot follow.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 48
Kudos: 176





	1. champagne glasses

Alex grinned into his champagne glass as the group surrounding him let out another round of laughter and felt their donor status slip from _probable_ to _definite._ He couldn’t help but grin himself, feeling completely in his element: charming powerful old white people (well, not all of them were old and white, but a good number of them were). Well, he felt almost completely in his element, only one thing was missing. His eyes scanned the room and- there was his missing thing. 

“You’ll have to excuse me,” He spoke. “But it was lovely to speak with you all again.” 

He gave one last winning grin before slipping out and making a b-line straight for the bar. He slid up next to the man standing there and wrapped one arm low around his waist. Henry looked down and smiled when he saw who it was standing next to them.

“I could practically see them handing over their checkbooks,” Henry said, accepting a dark glass from the bartender. 

“Yes, well, it’s for a very worthy cause.”

And, truly, it was. A fundraiser for the new shelter Henry and Pez were working on setting up in D.C.; it was hard for Alex to think of any better. 

“I really do appreciate you coming tonight, I know you've been busy lately with midterms, and taking the time to come out to D.C. with me must have-”

“Hey-” He moved so he was turned towards Henry, both his arms settled around his waist. “-none of that. You know your shelters are very important to me, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” 

“Still, the Claremont-Diaz charm is appreciated,” Henry said, leaning down, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. 

“I’ll be expecting more of that later.” Alec murmured after Henry pulled away. 

His cheeks flushed a little, causing Alex to smirk and squeeze Henry’s hips. Before he could continue on that train of thought, the bartender slid another glass towards them, this time a tall champagne float. 

“A refill for you sir.” He said. 

Before Alex could even thank him, he was turned towards another guest. He picked up the new glass and took a sip. 

“How about another lap around the ballroom and then we take this party to the East Wing?” 

***

Alex leaned into Henry heavily an hour later as Henry helped him into the backseat of the SUV, Shaan turned towards them with an eyebrow raised. 

“Someone have too much to drink tonight?” He asked with what Alex thought was an amused tone (honestly, it was hard for Alex to read Shaan’s tone when he was sober). 

“Champagne sneaks up on you.” Alex groaned, settling into Henry’s side as Shaan drove away. 

“I didn’t even think that you had drunk that much,” Henry frowned, running his fingers through Alex’s thick curls. 

“Yeah, well, the number of glasses is blurry to me too.” 

He buried his head into Henry’s chest, “I’m going to find out the brand of that champagne and raise the import taxes on it so much that it will never see the light of day in the United States again.” 

“How do you plan on doing that, exactly?” He chuckled. 

“I have connections.” 

“Ah, yes, how could I have forgotten you’re the reason we have Secret Service agents posted outside our home.” 

“Might I remind you that a PPO is currently driving our bullet-and-bomb proof SUV.” 

“We’ll have to call it a tie then.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Alex’s head. 

Alex let out a whine and something wretched a little bit in his chest. He tightened his hold on his boyfriend, biting on his bottom lip. 

“Are you sure it was just the drinks, love? You really don’t look well.” He asked.

“Yeah, I was fine before the fundraiser,” He raised his head to look at him. “I promise, just too much bubbly.” 

They pulled up to the brownstone then and Henry helped Alex up the stairs to their bedroom, where he immediately flopped on the bed. 

“You need to change, you can’t go to bed in that suit,” Henry said as he sat on the edge of the bed, gently beginning to take Alex’s shoes off. 

Alex mumbled something into the bed, barely eligible. 

“Come on love, up. Go change into some pajamas and brush your teeth, I promise it will make you feel better.” 

He slid off his shoes and helped Alex to his feet, watching him stumble into the bathroom. Henry stood and began to undress, taking off his tie and slinging it onto the dresser. He listened to the tap water running through the door, his stomach still a bundle of nervous energy. Though he wasn’t with Alex all night, admittedly, he did keep an eye on him. He was almost positive Alex didn’t have more than three glasses, and three glasses of champagne were not enough to make Alex feel like that. Sure, three-drink Alex knocked him into his brother’s wedding cake, but three-drink Alex wasn’t… whatever he was right now.

The door to the bathroom opened and Alex emerged, leaning on the doorframe, stripped from his suit to his boxers and undershirt. 

“I don’t feel so good baby.” He mumbled. 

That did it for Henry. He rushed forward, the backs of his hands pressing against Alex’s forehead, moving to his cheeks, feeling his scorching face. 

“Alex, what’s wrong?”

“I- I’m…” He trailed off, his eyes unfocused. 

“We need to go to the doctor.” Henry decided, trying to keep the nervous edge out of his voice. 

“Henry.” Alex managed to breathe out before his eye fluttered closed and he slumped forward into Henry.

Henry felt a wave of panic was over him as he caught Alex, gently lowering him to the ground. 

“Alex, love?” He asked, vision blurry, as he cupped his cheek and tried to rouse him. “Come on now, this isn’t funny, please wake up.”

He shook him and still Alex was unresponsive. 

“Help!” He shouted out, voice straining. “Shaan! _Shaan!”_

Normally there would be no one to hear him; the brownstone was soundproof and all security was posted outside, but Henry knew that whenever Shaan drove them from events he liked to double-check the security system inside. 

Henry clutched his boyfriend to his chest, who didn’t rise even as he kept shouting deafeningly. 

“Help is coming, Alexander, you’ll be fine.” He choked out, sweeping a stray curl off his forehead. 

The door to their bedroom burst open and Shaan barreled in, gun raised. When he saw Henry holding Alex on the ground, he holstered it quickly and knelt on the ground.

“He passed out and he won’t wake up,” Henry explained as Shaan checked Alex’s pulse with one hand, typing on his phone with another. “He won’t wake up.”

“Cash is going to meet us out front with a car, we can get him to a hospital faster than an ambulance,” Shaan said, pocketing his phone. “Was he any worse than he was in the car before he passed out?”

He pulled Alex out of Henry’s arms, situating him and standing up.

“I think so,” Henry answered shakily, as they rushed to the front door. “He was in the bathroom for the most part, but his speech was slurred and could barely keep his eyes open…”

They walked out of the brownstone and sure enough, Cash was there with a car. Henry slid into the back and Shaan placed Alex back there with him, his head resting on his lap. He slid into the passenger seat and as soon as the door was shut, Cash peeled off, sirens blaring. Henry didn’t say anything the whole ride there, he just kept his hold on Alex tight, refusing to let the tears that blurred his vision fall as he listened to Shaan catch Cash up. 

Cash must have called the hospital ahead because they pulled into the ambulance zone, and soon as the car was stopped, nurses and doctors were rushing towards them. Before Henry could even comprehend what had happened, Alex was being rushed away on a gurney, Cash jogging beside them, and relying to the doctors what happened. 

He felt Shaan grab his shoulder, “Come on, sir, they have a private waiting room.”

He left Shaan lead him, moving his body without thinking before he practically fell into a waiting room chair. 

He ran his hand through his hair, tugging on the end, “I don’t understand. He was fine not even an hour ago.”

An hour ago, Alex was whispering promises for later in the night, that now would not be coming true. An hour ago, Alex was smooth-talking senators and CEOs. 

“What happened?” Henry’s voice cracked, and finally, tears began to fall down his face. 

“I don’t know sir,” Shaan admitted, voice tight. “But we’re going to find out, I promise.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do if-”

“No, don’t think like that.” His face softened, and he reached forward and grabbed Henry’s forearm, dropping the professional fasade. “Alex is going to be just fine, this is one of the best hospitals in the city. I have to call Zahara now so she can inform President Claremont, but I’m just going to step into the corner, okay?” 

Henry nodded, bracing his arms on his legs and clasping his hands together. He stayed in that position as Shaan made one phone call, then another, and another. Cash came in carrying a few coffees but with no updates; he set one on the table next to Henry’s. It must have been a sight, the Prince of England sitting in an uncomfortable hospital chair in suit trousers and a rumpled dress shirt, not moving for who knows how long. 

Henry’s mind couldn’t help but wander to the last time he was in this position, sitting in a hospital waiting room. Now the only person he wanted right now was out of his reach. He kept replaying the moment Alex’s eyes rolled back, the quiet way he spoke his name before losing consciousness, in his mind over and over again. It haunted him, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it on a loop. And now Alex, the axis around which his world spun, could be dying in a hospital bed.

“Henry,” Shaan knelt next to him, pulling him out of his thoughts. “You haven’t moved in hours. You need to stand up, get a drink of water. Eat something, preferably.” 

“I’m fine.”

“Henry-”

He was cut off by the door to the waiting room bursting open and the President of the United States walking in, followed by June, Nora, and Leo. 

“There’s been no updates?” Ellen asked, an edge to her tone Henry couldn’t decipher. 

“No ma’am.” Cash said. 

“I’m going to get one then,” She said, turning around and walking out of the room again, Cash following behind her. 

Leo sat down in the first chair he saw, but June and Nora went straight for Henry. 

“Are you okay?” June asked softly, sitting next to Henry. 

“I’m fine.” 

“The numbers on that being true are unlikely,” Nora said, though not unkindly. 

“I’m fine, truly,” He tried to say, but it came out with a half-choked sob at the end. 

“Oh honey,” June said, wrapping one arm around his shoulder. Henry leaned into it, squeezing his eyes around the half-fallen tears. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He whispered. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” 

“I should have done something sooner,” He objected. 

“You just thought it was the drinks, Alex thought it was just the drinks, you did exactly as you should have,” Nora said. 

Henry thought otherwise, but before anything else could be said the doors opened yet again and Ellen reappeared, this time with a doctor in tow. Henry moved faster than he had in hours, standing up with everyone else. 

“I would like to start with that Mr. Claremont-Diaz is going to be fine and is expected to make a full recovery, before anything else.” She started. 

It took everything in Henry to keep standing up straight, to keep his knees from buckling in relief. He felt June loosen next to him and he heard a sigh of relief from somewhere else. 

“You brought him in just in time, Mr. Claremont-Diaz suffered from a heavy dosage of strychnine. We were able to treat him by removing the drugs and with IV fluids. He also suffered from some severe muscle spasms once he arrived, but those were able to be treated with medication as well. He’ll probably feel sore for a while and still has a low-grade fever, but we’re going to keep him under observation for a day or two, and should be fully recovered by then. We’re not expecting any long term side effects either.” 

“Strychnine,” Nora said. “He was poisoned?” 

Henry’s chest tightened at the words, his heart skipping a beat. _Poisoned_? 

“It appears so.” The doctor confirmed. “The poison is not something that appears normally, and if it were to have been in the air somehow, we would have had more cases of poisoning, which we haven’t, so he had to have ingested it.”

He didn’t know how to feel. On one hand: Alex was going to be fine, he was going to make a full recovery and be back, safe in their home in the next few days. On the other hand: Alex was _poisoned._ Someone out there wanted to hurt Alex, who was the most selfless, good-hearted person Henry had ever met in his life. How could someone ever want to hurt him? 

“Mr. Claremont-Diaz is down the hallway to your left, ten doors on your right. He’s asleep right now, but he should be waking up at any moment. You’re all free to go see him.” She said before nodding at Ellen and walking out of the room. 

“Cash?” Ellen asked, her voice hard. 

“Already on it. I didn’t witness any of the events personally, but so far it’s confirmed that no one else at the party has shown symptoms. And with how fast strychnine works, if anyone else was poisoned, they would have symptoms by now; it seems Alex was targeted directly.” 

Henry didn’t want to listen about how the love of his life was the target of an assassination. He wanted to go see him and wrap around him and hold him tight, even if it was around wires and IVs. 

June, as if reading his mind, wrapped her hand around his forearm and pulled him out of the room as Ellen and Cash continued to discuss the assassination attempt. Nora kept pace beside them, Shaan trailing behind. Their pace quickened the closer they got to his room and then he was standing in front of Alex, who was hooked up to about a million different wires and tubes. He rushed over to his bedside and brushed a shaky hand across his face, leaning down and pressing a hard kiss to his forehead. 

“Hmm, baby?” Alex mumbled from underneath him. 

Henry pulled back and saw Alex’s eyes blearily blinking open, face scrunching at the light. 

“Hello love.” Henry smiled gently, feeling something settle within him. 

“Why do I feel like I’ve spent twelve hours in a gym?” He groaned. 

Henry sat in the chair next to Alex’s beside, moving down to grab his hand. Nora and June pulled up chairs on the other side of the bed. 

“So it turns out it wasn’t the champagne that made you feel horrible,” Henry said. 

“What do you mean? Why am I in a hospital?” 

“You were poisoned. An assassination attempt, most likely.” Nora explained, June wincing at her words. “What? It was.” 

“I was poisoned?” Alex asked, suddenly looking much more awake. “With what?” 

“Strychnine, at the fundraiser,” Nora said. “Said you ingested it, you were the only one to show symptoms.” 

Henry rubbed his thumb over Alex’s knuckles, repeating the motion. 

“But everything I ate or drank I picked up from a tray, there’s no way they could have known which one I would have chosen.” 

Of course, Henry thought, even laid up in a hospitable bed, probably aching and miserable, Alex’s mind was already working away at the situation. A terrible thought occurred to him then. 

“Except for the champagne glass,” Henry spoke. “The one the bartender handed to you.” 

Alex’s mouth fell into a perfect ‘o’ shape, understanding dawning in his eyes. 

“We should go tell Cash,” June said, standing up from her chair. She leaned over and whispered something in Alex’s ear that made him smile and kissed his cheek before leaving the room, Nora in tow. 

The door closed and Henry could see the outline of Shaan’s body through the frosted glass. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I just survived an assassination attempt,” Alex laughed.

Henry’s face twisted at that, and the amused look melted from Alex’s face. 

“Hey, hey, I’m fine, really,” He reached forward with his other hand, clasping both of them around Henry’s. “Sure, I’m sorer than I’ve ever been in my life and my head doesn’t feel great, but I’m fine.”

“The doctor said you were going to make a full recovery,” Henry added. “No long-term side effects.”

“See? Then everything’s fine.”

Henry nodded, but something in his face must have given him away because Alex frowned. 

“Baby?” 

“It’s my fault. You wouldn’t have been there if I hadn’t have asked you to come.” 

“That statement is completely false, I would know, I’m in law school. I would have come even if you hadn’t asked me to. Plus, you have no control over the person who decided to spike my drink, you couldn’t have known what he was going to do.” Alex told him. 

Henry’s gaze was fixed on their hands.

“You know what I thought when I was sitting in the waiting room? After you had fainted and wouldn’t wake up, no matter how much I shook you or screamed? I thought that I should have seen this coming. I knew that you were too good to be true, that this life I had wouldn’t last. Because I don’t get to have beautiful things in my life, and sooner or later, I was going to have to go back to that gilded cage.” 

Alex’s hand moved up and pushed Henry’s chin up to look at him. 

“You deserve everything good in this world, Henry. I’m sorry that the world is shitty enough that it put those thoughts into your head, but you are absolutely the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and you deserve to be happy. I love you, so, so much baby.”

Henry felt a tear slip down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away. 

“I love you too.” 

He bent down and pressed his lips to Alex, kissing him properly. He pulled away before things could pick up too much, mindful of where they were. 

“Maybe I should suffer through assassination attempts more often,” Alex grinned.

Henry slapped him lightly, but he was grinning as Alex rubbed his arm. 

“Here I am, laid up in a hospital bed, and you have the audacity to slap me. Maybe I should call the Secret Service to come to remove you.”

Henry squeezed his hand, “They could try.”

Alex shuffled over on the bed, patting the now open space next to him. Henry climbed into the bed, avoiding all the medical equipment. He curled around Alex, who was still lying on his back due to all the wires, resting his chin on the top of his head. He laid one hand on top of Alex’s chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat under his hand. He closed his eyes, and for the first time since the fundraiser, he felt himself start to relax. Alex was here, under his arms, safe and sound as he could be, surrounded by Secret Service agents with Shaan guarding the door. 

“I was so scared I was going to lose you.” He whispered. 

“I’m not going anywhere. Go to sleep baby.” Alex wrapped his hand around Henry’s wrist. 

And so finally, after hours and hours of worry and stress, he allowed exhaustion to take hold of him, and slipped into nothingness, holding his love. 

***

Henry woke up to the low sound of murmuring voices, feeling the rumble of Alex’s voice under him, “Do you really think it could be him?”

“We can’t be certain,” Cash spoke. “But he did mention poisoning in his last letter.” 

“Alexander?” Henry mumbled, squeezing Alex lightly and slowly opening his eyes. 

“Shit, I didn’t want him to wake up,” Alex said lowly. And then, louder: “Go back to sleep Henry.”

Henry’s vision cleared up from sleep and he saw many more people in the room than when he last was awake. June was back in her chair, but this time it was her mom sitting next to her, Leo standing behind her. Oscar was in the chair on the other side of the bed, and Nora was on a couch pushed against a wall, furiously typing away at her laptop. Cash and Amy were standing at the foot of the hospital bed, and he spotted Shaan tucked into a corner of the room, underneath the television. 

“What is this about letters?” He asked, sitting up and leaning against the wall. 

“One of Alex’s creepy letter senders is a suspect in the investigation.” June supplied

“Creepy letter sender?” Henry looked down at Alex, an eyebrow raised. 

Alex just grinned at him sheepishly. 

“Alex gets sent threatening letters from unknown senders, we all do. I’m sure you do too,” Ellen sighed and he nodded in confirmation. “Every single one gets looked into, but ninety-nine percent of them turn up nothing. Alex has been getting letters from the same guy ever since I took office, but his return address changed with every letter, he’s never been tracked down. In the last one, he mentioned poisoning Alex.”

Alex squeezed his hand, “None of the other letters had ever led to anything, so no one expected this one to.” 

“So we think this guy did it? The bartender?” Henry asked. 

“We don’t for sure,” Oscar said, his voice hard. “But it could very well be. We don’t even know if the bartender was the person behind all this, or he was just working for someone.”

“We ran very thorough background checks on every single person working the fundraiser,” Shaan spoke up, crossing his arms. “They all came back clean, so either this guy is very good, or the bartender didn’t even know what was in that drink.”

“We’re working on tracking him down.” Cash confirmed. “Presently, Nora is trying to track his letter through the postal office records. Don’t ask me how, though.”

“But until the guy is caught, upped security,” Ellen said. 

“Mom-”

“Nope,” She interrupted him. “Someone tried to _kill_ you. When he sees you’re still alive, he could very much want to try again. He could go after Henry, do you want that?”

Henry heard Alex’s breath hitch.

“So we’re coordinating the Secret Service with Henry’s PPOs for upped security for the both of you. It’s not the end of the world to have a few extra cars on your street. Do I make myself clear?”

Alex nodded, looking a little bit dejected. Henry didn’t mind the extra security measures whatsoever; if it kept Alex safe, Henry would ship both of them over to Kensington. 

“Then that’s settled.”

***  
  


Henry soon realized Ellen may have underestimated the new security measures to sell Alex on them. A day and a half later when Alex was finally released from the hospital, they pulled up to the brownstone and Alex let out a few choice words. 

“She wasn’t kidding, huh?” He huffed as Henry helped inside, past the armed guard standing watch at the front stoop and the two black SUVs parked on the street, in addition to the security they already had. When they stepped inside, the guard closed the door behind them, activating their new security system. 

“Impressive that she put this together in like day, I’ll give her that.” He said as Henry helped him to the couch (he was still sore, even now). 

“She is the president, love,” Henry said, going and fetching Alex’s ice cream for him. 

He held it out to Alex, his face lighting up, “I love you.”

“Are you talking to me or the ice cream?” He joked, sitting next to him and pulling up _Bake Off._

“Mainly the ice cream.” 

Henry let out a huff of a laugh, letting Alex curl up next to him. 

“So, security everywhere we go, and even more at the house, I think they might start watching me pee. Just to be thorough.” Alex said. 

“If it keeps that man away from you, then I’ll gladly suffer through it.” He pressed a kiss to his temple. 

“I think it will.”

Never in his life more did Henry want Alex to be right. Unfortunately, as he learned all his life, Henry almost never gets what he wants. 


	2. gray cars

Even after a month, Alex still wasn't used to all the extra security. Sure, even before his assassination attempt, he always had an agent tailing him, but the new measures was a little much. Cash had taken to sitting in on Alex’s classes, which had garnered him one or two odd looks. You experience one assassination attempt and your leash was tightened. And since Alex was not particularly fond of the new security measures, he and Henry were spending more time at home. Not to mention, Henry was starting to become… jumpy, when they went out in public. His eyes were always scanning the room, he was startling more easily, and he almost never let go of Alex while in public (and while Alex liked the public affection, he did not like the reason behind why he was getting it). 

So both of them were spending more time at home, Alex only going out for class and Henry going out to the shelter. And really, when he thought of it, it could be worse. Spending more time at home with Henry, cooking together and watching  _ Bake Off _ , getting up to other activities… 

There was one part of being at home Alex didn’t like, however, he thought as he laid in bed, gently shaking Henry. 

“C’mon, baby, wake up,” He spoke. “It’s just a dream.” 

Henry let out another small gasp, twisting the sheets in his grasp. 

More and more often, Henry was getting nightmares. He would start tossing and turning in his sleep, letting out small gasps and whimpers. It broke Alex’s heart; even in his sleep, Henry was trying his hardest not to bring attention to himself. 

Alex gave him one final shake and Henry’s eyes snapped open, immediately going to him. He reached towards him and Alex didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Henry, pressing his forehead against his. 

“Same dream?” He asked softly. 

He felt Henry nod against him.

“I’m right here, not going anywhere.” 

Henry didn’t say anything, but Alex felt his arms tighten around him. 

“Do you want to go watch  _ Bake Off _ ? Or stay in bed?” 

“Stay,” Henry whispered. 

“Whatever you want.” 

Alex watched as Henry’s eyes eventually fluttered shut and his breathing evened out, but his grip on Alex never wavered. 

_ How lucky _ , Alex thought.  _ How lucky I am to be able to love this man.  _

***

Alex watched from his seat at the bar as Henry whisked ingredients together, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Do you need any help?” Alex offered. 

Henry turned towards him, an eyebrow raised, “Was that a serious offer? Because I don’t want my biscuits to end up half-burnt and hard as a rock.” 

“First off, they’re called cookies. And I could crack some eggs or something.” 

“I’d rather not end up eating eggshells,” Henry smirked, moving to roll the cookie dough into balls. 

Alex let out a huff, but there was no real heat behind it. He got up from his seat, moving to stand behind his boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around his waist, turning his head and resting it right below Henry’s shoulder. 

“What’s in these, anyway?”

“Chocolate chips and raisins. It’s just regular dough though, not oatmeal.” 

“We call those cowboy cookies. I think that’s a Texas thing, though.” 

“Cowboy cookies,” Henry repeatedly amusedly. 

Their conversation lulled, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. Even when Alex thought he hated Henry, he had never had an awkward silence with him. It was nice, he thought, standing behind Henry, listening to the soft crooning of The Beatles coming through the speaker and feeling Henry go through the motions of rolling the cookies in his palms. 

But Alex knew he had to break the silence with the news he had to share, even if he didn’t want to ruin the comfort of the moment. 

“Henry?” 

“Yes, Alexander?” Henry asked back, his movements pausing. 

Well, it’s now or never. Probably best to tell him fast, like ripping off a band-aid. 

“I have to travel back to D.C.” 

Henry turned around and Alex’s eyes caught a bit of flour smeared on one of his cheeks. The mental image of Alex kissing it off for him ran through his mind, but he decided that probably wasn’t the best idea at the moment, considering the look on Henry’s face. 

“You mean back to the city that, the last time you were in it, some attempted to murder you? You’re talking about that one, correct?” 

Alex winced at Henry’s tone. 

“I know, I know, but I have some First Son duties that I have to attend, trust me, I tried to get out of them.” 

And he had, really, but they were hosting some high ranking foreign ambassadors from a country (that’s as specific as he could be, he hadn’t exactly been paying 100% attention to Zahara on the phone, Henry had just gotten out of the shower, and well…). June had some meetings with her book publisher, and Alex didn’t have anything going on this weekend, so that left him to go.

“I’ll just come with you then,” Henry said. 

“About that,” He said, drawing it out. “It’s on Saturday.” 

Henry looked confused for just a moment, and then his eyes widened in realization: “The shelter event.” 

They had been planning a huge carnival for the kids at the shelter for the past two months, it was supposed to help brighten their spirits, and help bring some more good press towards it (not that that was the reason they were hosting it, but it certainly didn’t hurt). Henry had been looking forward to it for forever now. 

“I know that this is important to you and I don’t want you to miss it for me,” Alex told him. “I’ll have Cash with me all the time, and the only places I’ll be going in D.C is the White House and Capitol Hill, which are probably two of the most protected places in the city.” 

Though he tried to hide, Alex could tell Henry was worried. Alex would always be able to tell what Henry was feeling. 

“We knew that this was going to happen eventually,” Alex said. 

“I know,” Henry nodded. “I was just…” 

“I wish I could stay with you too, but I won’t be gone long. I’ll leave tomorrow afternoon and be back by Sunday night. We could have a late dinner, from that Indian takeout place you really like.” 

“Okay,” Henry agreed after a moment, though it looked like he didn’t want to. “Promise me you’ll be safe?” 

He stood up on his toes and whispered, “I promise” before he pressed his lips to Henry’s. 

***

“Why did I have to be here for this again?” Alex asked Nora, loosening his tie as they walked away from saying goodbye to the ambassadors. 

“Because it looks good for foreign relations,” Nora answered him, “Don’t you like these kinds of things, anyway?”

“Normally,” He admitted. “But this is the first time I’ve been away from Henry for longer than a few hours since the attempt.”

“And Henry’s worried about you.” She stated. 

Alex nodded, “I don’t blame him either. We haven’t made any progress on any leads.” 

“We’ll catch him.” 

“I know that, and Henry knows that but…”

“It’s still hard.” 

Alex didn’t say anything, biting on his lip. He must have looked bad because Nora said next: “You want me to come to Capitol Hill with you?”

Nora never offered to come with him, she always insisted that charming information out of senators was his thing, not hers. 

“No, it’s fine. I’ll have Cash with me. Besides, it's Capitol Hill, what could go wrong there?” 

And Alex was right, nothing did happen at Capitol Hill. But he also never made it there. 

He was standing at the corner of the street, waiting for the crosswalk sign to light up green, Cash tailing behind him. Alex was looking down at his phone, grinning a little at a text from Henry. The crosswalk signs light up and he pocketed his phone before he could reply, stepping onto the street. 

He heard the screeching of the tires before he saw them, turning his head just in time to see a gray blur right before it slammed into his side. He was flung up into the air, bouncing off the top of the car, before he slammed into the hard street on his side, head crashing into the concrete. For a second, the only thing he could think of was  _ if I survive this, Henry is going to murder me.  _ Then the pain hit him. It struck like lightning, setting every nerve in his body on fire. His vision was white, barely able to make out the shapes hovering over him. 

“Barracuda is down, I need an ambulance to Independence Avenue in front of the Senate building immediately,” Cash’s voice filtered through his haze, though it sounded far off. 

“Cash?” Alex tried to speak, but a pain-filled moan came out instead. 

“Shh, Alex, it’s going to be okay,” He heard. 

Alex didn’t understand; why was he lying down? Why couldn’t he move? 

“Henry,” He tried to speak again, this time coming out just barely eligible. “I want Henry.”

His eyes suddenly felt as if they weigh a thousand pounds and so Alex closed them, all energy seeping out of his body. 

“Alex, no, you need to stay awake. Keep your eyes open Alex, stay awake…” 

Alex could sense, somewhere distantly, that he probably shouldn’t go to sleep. But every inch of him ached. He was just so tired. One last thought fluttered through his mind before he gave in, letting sleep pull him under:  _ I want Henry.  _

***

Henry laughed as Gloria’s, a girl from the shelter, face twitched a bit. 

“I told you not to move your face,” He playfully scolded. 

“But the brush tickles!” She protested. “Plus, the paint is wet.” 

“Good thing I’m done then,” He said, stepping back and offering her a mirror. 

She took it, examining the rainbow with clouds he had painted onto her cheek. 

“I love it!” She exclaimed. “Thank you!” 

Henry grinned at her as she ran off, going to show her face paint to one of her friends. 

“We should do events like this more often,” Henry said to Pez, who was restocking the drink cooler behind him. 

“It is nice to see them so happy.” He agreed, handing a soda to a kid.

He set his paintbrush in the cup of water when he felt someone grab his arm. He turned to see Shaan, his face stoic. 

“Your phone, Sir,” He said, holding his hand out. 

Henry’s hand immediately shot to his pocket where his phone was, grabbing it but not handing it over. 

“What happened?” He asked, feeling dread pool in his stomach. 

“I’m afraid I can't say, President Claremont has ordered a communications lockdown.” 

Henry thought his heart might have actually stopped, “It’s Alex, isn’t.”

Shaan reached out and grabbed his phone, tucking it into his suit jacket. 

“We need to head to D.C.” 

“Go,” Pez said, suddenly standing next to him. “I’ve got everything handled here. Text me as soon as you can.” 

Henry nodded numbly and allowed Shaan to lead him to the car. 

“I know you can’t give any details,” Henry said, once inside. “But should I be preparing for the worst?”

“No,” Shaan said, and the vice around his heart loosened just a little bit. “I wish I could say more, but he’s not dying.” 

Henry nodded and didn’t speak again for the rest of the car ride. 

***

Henry could hear Alex’s voice carrying down the hallway of the military hospital as he made his way towards his room, which helped ease his frayed nerves. 

“Where is he?” He heard Alex almost whine. 

He stepped into the doorway, but instead of finding Alex unconscious like last time, he was sitting up in bed, though facing away from him. He knocked on the door before stepping into the room completely. Alex’s head turned towards him, a brilliant smile lighting up his face when he saw him. 

“Henry!” He exclaimed, making grabby hands towards him. 

“Hello love,” He couldn’t keep himself from smiling softly, walking over to the hospital bed, and dropping a kiss onto his head. 

“He’s on a lot of pain meds,” Ellen explained from her spot at his bedside. 

He looked over his boyfriend, and the worry that had subsided at seeing him awake and smiling came back in full force. His left arm was in a sling and the same side of his face was scraped up. There was some dried blood matted in his hair and smeared on his clothes, which were torn in places and covered in black marks. 

“What happened?” Henry asked, sitting next to Alex who happily cuddled into his side. 

“He was struck by a car in front of the Senate building,” Ellen explained. “He was crossing the street and the car just came out of nowhere. His arm is broken, he has a few cracked ribs, sprained femur, plus all kinds of road rash and bruises down his left side and his back. He has a concussion too.”

Good God, Henry thought, looking to make sure he wasn’t aggravating any of his injuries. 

“Security?” He asked. 

“Cash was there, right behind him, the car just barely missed him.” 

Henry pushed the mental image of a car hitting Alex dead-on out of his mind; imagining that would do him no good. 

“I couldn’t find you,” Alex spoke from where his face was buried in his side. 

“I’m right here Alexander,” He assured him. 

“No, I couldn’t find you then. Earlier.” 

And that was it, wasn’t it? Henry should have been there. He should have insisted on coming to D.C. with him. Or, better yet, he should have insisted on Alex staying in New York with him. He should have boarded up the doors to their brownstone and never let him out. 

“I’m sorry love,” He whispered. “I’m so sorry.” 

“‘Snot your fault. I just missed you.” 

Henry closed his eyes, taking a breath. 

“I missed you too.” He said, so softly, he wasn’t sure if Alex heard it. 

“He’s going to be fine, Henry,” Ellen told him, her eyes shining a little. 

Henry took a moment, trying to find the right words. 

“He was fine last time and he’s going to be fine this time. But at this pace, there is going to be a next time. What if it ends differently then? How much is Alex going to suffer before this ends, one way or another?” 

“We are going to find him before anything happens to him again,” Ellen told him, steel in her eyes he only ever saw before when she was about to face down an opponent on the other side of the aisle. 

Henry glanced down at Alex, who was now asleep, and he felt so much overwhelming love for this man curled in his arms, this man who pulled him out of his gilded cage and showed him endless, unflinching love. 

But he also felt so much fear. Fear that the best thing in his life would be snatched out of his arms because someone thought that the world would be better off without Alex in it. And, wow, that person must be the most idiotic person in the world. A world without Alex was one Henry didn’t think he could bear to live in. 

***

A few days later, Henry was sitting in a chair at Alex’s bedside, reading aloud to him. 

“‘Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?’ said Malfoy. ‘And he’s supposed to be our teacher!’” Henry read aloud. “Harry and Ron both made furious moves toward Malfoy, but Hermione got there first - SMACK! She had slapped Malfoy across the face with all the strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered. Harry, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle stood flabbergasted as Hermione raised her hand again.” 

“Hermione is the best character,” Alex said, interrupting Henry. 

“Of course you would think that,” Henry grinned at him. 

“Why do you say that?” 

“Are you kidding me? You and Hermione could have been twins separated at birth for how similar you are.” 

“I’m much better looking though,” Alex said seriously. 

“Of course dear,” Henry agreed. 

“Good news,” Nora came into the room, June trailing behind her. “Communications lockdown has been lifted and I have come to restore your access to humanity. Aka, I have your phones. Expect for you Alex, Henry gets yours because your head’s so fucked up.” 

“C’mon,” He complained. “I can’t even look at it for a little bit?” 

“Nope,” June said, popping the ‘p.’ 

Henry collected his and Alex’s phone from Nora, slipping Alex’s into his pocket and unlocking his, going to text Bea. He had managed one phone call to his family to explain what happened to them but hadn’t managed to talk to them other than that.

“If you’re lucky, I might read your Twitter feed aloud to you,” He offered. 

“I love you,” Alex said. “Could you draft a few tweets for me? I’m feeling deprived.” 

“If you don’t try to sneak any more newspapers, I might be a little generous.” 

Alex grinned up at him before Nora began to give him a rundown of the important events he missed over the past few days. Henry opened up his newsfeed, absently scrolling through and catching up some events that had transpired in London during his media blackout (Pip made a few appearances, Bea did a charity appearance, much of the same). He was about to close the app when one headline caught his eye. He clicked on the link and a video immediately started to play. At first, he didn’t know what he was looking at, the camera was a bit shaky, but then he realized. 

It was Alex, landing on the street with an audible snap, his head bouncing off it. Cash rushing over to him and blood began to slowly seep from under him as Alex stared blankly ahead, Cash yelling into his phone. Then he spoke so quietly Henry almost missed it. A quiet “Henry” fell from Alex’s lips as his eyes slid closed, Cash pleading for him to stay awake, and the video cut off. 

When it was done playing, Henry looked up to see everyone looking at him through blurry vision. 

“I’m sorry,” Henry choked out. “I, I have to-” 

He stood abruptly up, the book in his lap falling to the floor. He stumbled out of the room, vaguely hearing Alex protesting behind him, and down the hallway a few steps until he sunk against the floor. His breathing was picking up and his hands were shaking; he grabbed and pulled at his hair.

“Sir, are you okay? What happened?” He blinked and saw Shaan kneeling in front of him. 

“I can’t, I can’t  _ do  _ this Shaan.” He sobbed. 

Shaan reached forward and pulled Henry’s hands out of his hair, gently setting them in Henry’s lap. 

“What can’t you do?”

“The video, I saw the video.” 

Understanding dawned in Shaan’s eyes. He grabbed one of Henry’s hands and placed it on his chest. 

“Match my breathing, Henry. Come one, deep breaths with me.” 

This was familiar to Henry. He had been in this position with Shaan countless times before; when his dad started chemo, when his dad died, when Bea got bad, and when meetings with his grandmother sent him spiraling. So the motion of matching Shaan’s breathing came naturally to him, and his breathing evened out after a minute, but the tears were still leaking from his eyes. 

“I’m sorry you saw that, we thought we had gotten all the news sites to take it down, got it pulled from all social media enough that you wouldn’t have seen it,” Shaan told him. 

“I can’t do this,” Henry repeated. 

“Yes you can,” He said. “You can because if you don’t, the person behind all these events wins. They want you to give up, so you can’t. And I know you, Henry, I know that you’re strong enough to get through this, you and Alex both. Okay?”

“Okay,” Henry rasped back. 

“Do you need a minute?”

Henry shook his head. 

“I’m sure there’s a very worried group of people in that room, do you want to go back in there?” 

“Yeah,” He took Shaan’s offered hand and helped him up. “Thank you.”

“Not needed,” Shan said. 

He paused right before he reached the room. 

“Do you really believe I can do this?” 

“Not a doubt in my mind.”

***

“Today’s breakout day,” June cheered as she helped pack up Alex’s things. 

“I also get my phone back today,” Alex added. “I could drool at the thought.” 

“You and your phone have an unhealthy relationship,” Nora commented. 

“Like you’re one to talk.” 

“Point.” 

Alex glanced through the window to the hallway to look at Henry, who was on the phone with his mom. 

“Still worried about him?” June asked. 

“Yeah,” Alex said. “You know he was having nightmares about this before he saw me get hit by a car?” 

June frowned in sympathy. 

“I just want to get this whole thing over with so he can stop worrying and things can go back to normal.” 

“I may have an update on that front,” His mom spoke, looking up from her cell phone. 

Nora went and knocked on the window, getting Henry’s attention, and waving him in. 

“What is it?” He asked, hanging up the phone.

“There’s an update on the person targeting Alex,” June said. 

Henry nodded, but Alex could see him steel himself silently. 

“Cash got the partial plate from the video matched and tracked the car down. It was dumped in a used car lot, sold for cash, but they got a sketch of the guy from the lot owner and they’re blasting it to every police department and news station in the country. It’ll only be a matter of time now before someone recognizes him.” Ellen explained. 

“Thank God,” Henry breathed at the same time Nora let out an “about fucking time.” 

Alex gingerly swung his feet off the side of the bed, reaching for Henry and grabbing his hand. Alex loved having any excuse to touch Henry, but he had found lately that his touch helped ground Henry, helped remind him that he was still there and breathing. He had spent every waking moment since the accident regretting his decision to go to D.C. He should have put his foot down, should have said he was too busy with law school to go. Because of course, the moment he leaves Henry for more than five hours is when the person decided to strike.

Honestly, Alex was feeling pretty calm about the whole situation (of course he was still worried, and a little nervous if he was being honest, but he had faith that this would end soon). He was more worried about Henry than anything else. He was struggling with the situation before he got hit by a car, and this time he was worse off, visibly injured, and there was a video of the accident that he saw. He hadn’t left Alex’s side since the moment he got here, and Alex was fairly certain he had a panic attack the other day. He refused to talk about it, but it wasn’t hard for Alex to deduce. 

He was praying that this man would be found before he drove them over the edge. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I am so overwhelmed by the response this has gotten in just two days! I love every person who has taken the time to read, leave kudos, and comment! And I promise I will get back to every comment, but I've been busy churning out this chapter! I hope you enjoyed!


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